Both Mr. Stephenson and myself live on the outer edges of the old Portuguese neighbourhoods here in Toronto.
I am a firm believer in the theory that the Portuguese are indeed the Fins of Southern Europe. I am certain that anybody who has ever listened to the melancholic tones of a Portuguese fado will agree with me, so this proximity makes sense for Mr. Stephenson, who himself is of Scandinavian descent and no stranger to the deep, philosophical introspection so common amongst his people.
For a seafaring nation the Portuguese are exceedingly fond of meat, cured or otherwise, and the best Portuguese butcher on Dundas Street is known to us, affectionately, as the Disco Butcher, due to the plethora of neon lights adorning the building.
The Disco Butcher has recently started curing entire pig legs, then drying them in a temperature controlled room. An entire ham retails for $76 and should last for months in a cool room. A cool room like, for example, my basement in November. Toronto ham, inspired by the best that Parma has to offer.
Mr Duess,
I thought I might add a lovely photo that illustrates the disco-ness of the disco butcher here.
http://citynoise.org/article/2288
On the topic of the deeply introspective Fins, it might be interesting to note here that they are experts at all manner of smoked meats – traditionally the cold climes make it easy to preserve and store when its smoked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_cuisine
This might be an area of exploration for the winter, being Finnish and all.
Oh…on a point of pride here, the Fins are not technically Scandinavian (that’s the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians), they’re Nordic and speak a Uralic language close to Estonian and Hungarian.